Arthur Dimes

  General Notes:

Arthur was the youngest of Thomas and Ann Dimes' children and was brought up in Crondall. He served 12 years with the Royal Marines before emigrating to New Zealand, where he worked on a sheep farm in Waipukurau in the North Island. He was 38 when he enlisted on 24th July 1916 in the NZ army. After a brief spell of training in Wellington, he embarked on 15th November 1916 and arrived at Devonport on 29th January 1917. He left for France with his regiment on 1st March. By June he was in the field on the front line in the 2nd Battalion, Otago Regiment, NZEF. On the 12th October he was reported missing. At the court of enquiry the following month, a fellow soldier stated, "I saw 32144 Pte A. Dimes on the 12th October 1917 at the assembly point prior to the advance on Belle Vue spur. There was some heavy artillery and machine gun fire and the company suffered heavy casualties. I did not see Dimes again and he did not come out of the trenches with the company.

At some unknown time Arthur's body was found and interred at the Tyne Cot cemetery. His sister, Clara, as his next of kin, was sent the one thing that remained with him - his identity disc.

Arthur's name is remembered every Armistice Day as one of the first names read.